It doesn't. But having the grounded tower helps bleed off the charge building in the atmosphere in the immediate vicinity, greatly reducing the likelihood of the charge reaching a high enough level to ionize the air and produce a major lightning discharge.
Once the air ionizes it becomes a good conductor handling huge currents. But until then, the charge will leak off harmlessly. The voltage gradient always exists. On any day, your head is about 100 volts above the potential at your feet but you don't feel a thing because the currents are so small. Lightning occurs when the charge builds up too quickly for it to bleed off harmlessly. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of j...@kk9a.com Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 8:59 AM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Lightening damage Why would lightning avoid striking a grounded tower? John KK9A Richard Fjeld rpfjeld at outlook.com I'm trying to avoid taking anyone's side on this discussion. I wanted to say that I worked for a company that had towers throughout the state which were several hundred feet tall. Over the years, I only saw one that took a hit. The company was so certain their grounding specs had not been followed, that they made the contractor dig up the entire grounding layout. It revealed the specs had not been followed. Certain radio and TV services need to operate 24/7 and can't shut down when lightening threatens. Their grounding methods apparently prevent the towers from being hit . Rich, n0ce ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to r...@elecraft.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
